Help pours in for man in need of eye surgery

Abu Dhabi: A Sri Lankan man, who is suffering from a hereditary eye disease that could lead to incurable blindness, is getting readyfor surgery after help started pouring in from Gulf News readers.

Ranga Rohantha Silva has poor vision during the day and has been suffering from night blindness for a long time, one of the first symptoms of retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

However offers of help poured into Gulf News following a report earlier this month about the desperate situation of the man's family, who had been declined bank loans for an operation that may help him.

The banks had declined the loans due to the family's low income.

Silva, 35, and his wife Lankani were struggling to find means for the surgery costing Dh30,000 which was their only hope of saving the man's sight.

"There are not enough words to thank the kind hearts of those who helped us out," said Silva.

Retinitis pigmentosa is a disease of the retina, which slowly degenerates, leading progressively to incurable blindness.

Overwhelming response

Silva is now scheduled to undergo surgery at a hospital in Singapore on August 11. His second eye swill be operated on two days later.

From banks finally agreeing to offer loans, to hospitals giving support and airlines offering tickets, the response had been overwhelming, said his wife Lankani.

"Most of the people said that they don't want to be named and that the only thing they hope for, in return, is God's blessing. We will always remember them in our prayers," she added.

One of the banks had agreed to lend the couple money at a low interest rate, which will cover their travel and accommodation expenses, she added.

Silva works as a telephone operator at a private hospital while his wife works for a money exchange firm.

Since neither of them earns more than Dh5,000 per month their repeated applications for bank loans had fallen on deaf ears prior to the Gulf News report.

The Sri Lankan Embassy also offered to help by coordinating with their counterparts in Singapore to ensure the family will get the support they need while Silva undergoes treatment there.